Fitchburg officials, sober house at odds

FITCHBURG 
The city says the owner of a sober home on Water Street is leaving officials in the dark as to what he is doing, but the home's owner and manager say local regulations do not apply to sober homes.

Health Agent Stephen Curry said officials really do not know how many sober homes are operating in the city.

Mr. Curry says he knows of at least a couple, including one on Fisher Road that has received numerous complaints whose owner plans to open another one on the same street.

Once more than five unrelated people live in a single family home, Mr. Curry said, it is classified as a lodging house, and the owner must apply for a license from the license commission to run it legally. Building Commissioner Robert Lanciani said a lodging house designation means the home must comply with state building codes, including a sprinkler system and fire alarms and a certain number of egresses depending on the layout of the home.

“With a change of use, the building code requires that they have to be sprinkled,” Mr. Lanciani said.

Mr. Curry said health inspectors were not allowed in the Water Street sober house a few weeks ago, so the city has no idea what they are doing.

“We received a complaint about an illegal lodging house, and inspectors knocked on the door, but did not get in,” Mr. Curry said. “We don't know its use, and that is why we were there. It seems they have something to hide by not letting us in and leaving us in the dark. I would advise him to work it out with us.”

However, Jeffrey Summers, director of the nonprofit Jeffrey's House that owns the sober house, said he has left several voicemails for health inspectors. Moreover, Mr. Summers said the city is in violation of the federal disability act and state laws for trying to place stricter housing code regulations on sober homes than they do other homes in the city.

“Sober housing automatically falls under ADA — federal legislation supersedes state law,” Mr. Summers said. “Under ADA we are totally within our rights to operate a sober home. The inspector said we would need sprinklers, but under ADA that would be a violation on the city's part. You can't make special laws for people in this situation. They would have to say all single-family homes in the city have to have sprinklers.”

According to a report released by the Department of Public Health in May, the state is virtually powerless to impose rules or regulations on sober homes.

Federal disability and housing laws classify substance abusers as disabled citizens who are protected under ADA, the report says, and any group housing to accommodate them cannot be subject to additional regulations that do not apply to other typical residents.

The report does recommend an indirect form of regulation that provides incentives to sober home operators if they voluntarily undergo state-approved training. Once they go through the training, they would receive housing referrals from the courts and probation and parole agencies, the report says.

Mr. Summers, who is also licensed as a real estate broker and construction supervisor and is running several other successful sober houses in the sate, said he plans to undergo the training.

A large number of people who use sober homes are defendants and inmates with addiction problems who are leaving the state system and need a place to live, he said, because they have exhausted all of their other resources, such as family and friends.

Additionally, his housing manager, Sean J. Harrington, has experience running eight other sober homes in the Boston area and now oversees the five-bedroom sober home on Water Street around the clock.

“I definitely want to do this correctly, and I'm taking no shortcuts,” Mr. Summers said. “If someone comes up dirty, they have to go. That is the only kind of policing to keep someone in line.”

If the city tries to enforce housing codes for lodging houses on sober houses, he said, they would be forced to shut down. Starting around $30,000 for sprinkler installation, it is too cost-prohibitive, he said, and said he feels the city is using it as a deterrent. He said he has already put thousands into renovating the home, which was abandoned after foreclosure and vandalized before he bought it.

“I guarantee not a single family home in Fitchburg has a sprinkler system,” he said. “No one is going to do that. They say that because they know they won't. It is not cost-effective, and there is a need for professionally run sober houses.”

Mr. Harrington said all residents are required to undergo drug testing by an outside agency that comes into the home three times a week, and he also conducts periodic checks himself. They also provide residents with tools for job training or money to get a job through federal grants. Those who are looking for work are required to contribute to the home through shoveling, mowing the lawn or other chores.